Pulling the ripcord. Major life change

ShawnG said:

Rons said:

In reply to ShawnG :

Or wrenching on a tractor or manure spreader.

Tractor I can handle if it's mine.

Farm equipment is easy to deal with. I don't have to worry about scratches. 

Congratulations!  Oh and please live by the statement in your signature around farm equipment. 

In reply to bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) :

It's gone crazy out here. My wife manages an equestrian facility for a couple who have a 30 acre plot.

They paid 7 million for it about 10 years ago, they've been offered over 13.

They're thinking of leaving too. I would. If I could get that sort of scratch together I'd never have to work again.

You're doing what SWMBO and I have discussed doing a few times. 

If I could do the same thing. I would do the same thing. Im pretty tired of the rat race right now. 

To pick up where we left off, the seller made a counter-offer and we went back and forth a few times before our offer was accepted. We spent a little more than we wanted to but I still think we did ok, unless the place is haunted or something.

With the offer accepted, we started the purge at home. Many things have been thrown out, given away, sold or donated. Garage sale happens in a couple weeks.

We started getting quotes from moving companies and haulers.

Our initial plan was to hire a moving company to do the most of the house and the stuff we didn't need right away, rent a U-Haul to take the stuff we did need right away, ship my wifes 18,2 Percheron / Dutch Warmblood cross because he's too big to fit in our horse trailer, haul my wife's Continental on a car hauler and make one last trip to get the remaining quarter horse and miniature horse.

I sold our travel trailer. Since none are available right now I managed to get $3,000 more than I paid for it 5 years ago. Took the cash and bought a brand-new 18', 10,000lb flatbed trailer. We have a 3/4 ton Suburban but not a pickup truck and we're going to need to haul stuff for the farm so this was a no-brainer. Even had some cash left over to put in the bank.

That's my wife's Suburban, Sally the Tow Beast. She's got Sierra 3500 brakes and a slightly warmed up L29 Vortec so she has a bit of a drinking problem but she's paid for and for the cost of a new Suburban, I can burn a lot of fuel.

Everything was coming up roses, then the quotes from the moving companies started coming in...

Almost forgot, I'm not a total jerk, I did tell my boss what was happening back in February, before we went to look at the house. 

This is totally awesome!

Keep the updates coming.  

Wave when you come through Kelowna.

In reply to ShawnG :

Be careful with the moving companies, there are some real beauties out there.

Marketplace did an episode on them recently.

Re: Moving.  

I have recommended (but never personally used) ABF U-Pack.  Recently, GRM'er DrBoost detailed his move with them in this thread.  Are they, or similar available in Canada?  

If you're looking for a more "full service" type move, you can still use ABF but the key is to hire labours on each side. 

The "scams" of the moving industry are that they then come up with stories of transportation trouble and then hold your good hostage.  Pay the higher ransom rate and they will actually deliver.  And, since they had access to your goods, they may not deliver all of it after having pilfered through "the good stuff".  

With these "lock box services" the movers don't get to your goods.  Being a national company the expectation is that they will not play games with deliver ransom.  

When you think long haul moving company, you think these kinds of trucks:

United is a large US based moving company but they are just a franchise.  In this case it is really JH Bennett wearing the United logo.  I don't know Bennett, just a lifted picture but these companies own typically 1-10 trucks.  So, though United seems big, its just a bunch of smalls.  Some are honest, some are not.  Good luck. In the ABF example, all the trucks are owned by a large corporation.  

Just as an aside as someone in Southern SK (Yorkton area). Never, under any circumstances, never remove your snow-brush from your vehicle.

This morning we woke up to snow on vehicles. Not lots, but enough to need a snow-brush. I do wlecome you to the province tho!

I'm sad to leave but it's time to go before I get burnt out and hate the job.

Looking at the shop today is making it harder.

We're hiring if anyone is looking for a job.

Continuing...

When we started thinking of this move in February, we looked at U-Haul's website, the estimator would only let us look at booking two months in advance. 26' Box truck to Sask was going to cost us around $3500. ok, I can deal with that.

In April I started getting quotes from the moving truck companies. $7000 to $9000 depending on how shady the company seemed. Then, when you read the disclaimer, they're not responsible for much of anything and if your estimated pack list is wrong, they will charge the hell out of you for any difference. Umm... I need to think.

Started looking at google reviews and talking to friends about their moving experiences and my confidence dropped like a rock. I don't need my crap getting broken, ransomed or stolen. I have some cool stuff and I like all of it.

Then I checked U-Yank again. Now that we could book into June, the rental rate on the truck had jumped to $6800. 

Not a chance in hell.

The wife unit and I talked and we came to the conclusion that we own two trailers and one truck. A second truck would sure be useful and we will want a beater farm truck at the other end anyway, why not buy another truck and play Convoy. All we need to do is build some stake sides to make the flatbed into a box.

I went on marketplace and spent $5000 to bring home this:

I found a 1989 Ford F-250HD with a 7.3IDI and a C6 automatic. One of the best trucks they ever made. A mechanically injected diesel and a near-indestructible automatic and neither one has a computer of any kind.

It's a total Grandpa truck that only hauled a slide-in camper on holidays. It's only got 195,000 km on it.

I spent some cash and some shop time to do the following:

New tires.

New batteries.

New starter.

New alternator and regulator.

New fan clutch.

New fuel filter.

New lift pump.

New hoses and belts.

Fresh coolant and new thermostat.

Oil change.

Transmission fluid and filter.

New trailer hitch and brake controller.

Charge the A/C.

Check absolutely everything else.

I've been daily driving it for the last month and everything seems to be great. I think Leo is ready for tow duty.

By the time we're done with fuel, it will probably cost the same amount but I get to keep a really good truck at the end.

Then the horse haulers started getting back to us...

Apparently there's a FB page called Bad movers Canada.
FYI

In reply to John Welsh :

I probably need your phone number.  I say that because when anyone needs advice, you seem to always give some very good, well thought out advice. 

ShawnG said:

We're hiring if anyone is looking for a job.

That looks like a great shop, but honestly I'd rather come work on your farm.

gearheadmb said:

ShawnG said:

We're hiring if anyone is looking for a job.

That looks like a great shop, but honestly I'd rather come work on your farm.

Me too at this point.

I've turned every hobby I've ever had into a job. 

I don't want to hate my car hobby so I'm leaving before that happens.

So, quotes from the horse shipping people were coming out to be around $2500 - $3000 which was seeming prohibitive.

My wife has a very nice, all aluminum 2-horse slant load trailer from Circle-J. It's been very good to us but it's sized for normal horses and her big guy who is a draft cross won't fit in it.

He was a "free" horse, which is exactly like a "free" boat except that the horse burns fuel even when it's not being used.

We decided to go looking for a bigger trailer. What is called a "warmblood" size because big, stupid Dutch Warmbloods are big horses. Oz is a Percheron, Dutch Warmblood cross so he's big AND wide.

For those who don't speak horse, one "hand" is four inches when measuring a horse. Her big guy is 18 hands, 2 inches. That means he's 6'2" at the shoulder. Her quarter horse is 14,3 and her mini is... short.

We found a Trails West Royale warmblood size 2-horse, straight load steel trailer in excellent condition for a good price.

This trailer is perfect, the center divider can be removed to make a big, box stall trailer (good for packing stuff we're moving too) and has a walkthru into the tack storage.

So, her big goofball actually fits in this one with about a foot to spare at each end. Her quarter horse fits great and her mini can walk right through to the tack storage which is where she will ride for the trip.

Perfect. All three horses in the same trip. Another thing off the list.

With that sorted out, we listed her aluminum trailer and managed to get $2k more than we paid for the new trailer.

We're going to have a lot of driving to do but less organising and managing of other people. That's a win in my book.

This is Oz, the draft cross:

This is Hercules, the normal-size Quarter horse:

This is Sage, the devil-horse:

Will the draft horse be doing any farm work, besides disposing of hay and making fertilizer?

gearheadmb said:

Will the draft horse be doing any farm work, besides disposing of hay and making fertilizer?

We're hoping to do some work with him, even if it's just to give him some exercise and a job to do.

He has an amazing personality and will do anything you ask if you're just patient with him and give him time to understand what you want him to do.

He hasn't been trailered much and it took an hour to get him into the trailer the first time we brought it home. Walking into a dark box with no exit isn't something a horse would normally do but if you're confident and patient and he trusts you, he will understand that it's safe and something he will be rewarded for doing.

The second time it only took him 15 minutes to load in the trailer.

The property comes with an early 1900s John Deere single bottom, ride-on plow. It might be a bit much for one horse but once he's used to harness and driving, I'd try it with him. If I'm not riding it, he should be able to pull it if the soil isn't rock hard.

My grandfather sold horses to companies that did selective logging with them. Far less damage than machinery.

He used the horses a lot in winter to pull a hay wagon and feed the cattle. He said they're a lot easier to start than a tractor in -30c.

In reply to ShawnG :

My dad had all the harness and equipment for a four horse team until it was sadly tossed a couple years ago. I still have a couple eveners I plan to hang patio lights from.

You can adjust the depth to something he can handle but in clean soil you can probably go at least four and maybe six inches. That would be an awesome addition to your farm! I will look forward to the build thread. 

Congratulations and good luck. 

Peabody said:

Apparently there's a FB page called Bad movers Canada.
FYI

Talking to another friend over coffee today. When he moved from Manitoba to here, he used movers.

Apparently everything showed up wet and smelling like weed. A bunch of stuff went missing too.

So far I'm not hearing any positive first-hand stories from any of my friends who've used movers.

Whenever movers come up I am reminded of the time I was sitting with my girlfriend in a restaurant parking lot talking, and a moving truck pulled up. Two men headed to the restaurant and the third dropped his pants in my headlight beams and took a dump in front of us. I do not think I could ever hire a mover now.

In reply to bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) :

Wife and I used to run a tool repair shop.

I have a hard time hiring roofers, painters or drywallers now.

Spent today on the new horse trailer. 

Pulled out the soft OSB that was the floor in the tack room, treated and painted the steel underneath, will be installing a new floor, more suitable to holding up a tiny horse later.

Replaced the faulty trailer plug and set up the weight distribution hitch. The wife will be pulling this trailer with her Suburban but the hitches on both trucks are the same height so it should be close enough for her truck.

Took the trailer around the block to test the hitch and the brakes. Looks like everything is working as it should. I'll order new tires next week.